In our U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,232, Roberts, we have described an improved locking differential capable of remote pneumatic actuation and including a locking ring housed within the differential carrier around one of the bevel gears and connected to a piston actuator located around the other of the bevel gears and connected to the locking ring by a sleeve. This locking system has enjoyed significant commercial success since it provides a locking differential mechanism which can be fitted to an existing differential housing with minimal modification to allow the remote pneumatic operation.
As a result of the extremely confined space within the differential carrier, the actuator and locking ring have always needed to be located on opposite sides of the pinion gear which increases the manufacturing operations needed to produce the locking differential and increases the pads inventory by requiring a connecting sleeve between the locking ring and the actuator. This splitting of the locking mechanism has prevented the use of the same locking system on differentials of smaller dimensions since there is insufficient room between the other bevel gear and the differential carrier to house the actuator mechanism. Also, in some larger differentials the geometry of the differential carrier housing makes it impossible to locate a split locking mechanism of this type.